Multiple choice

Why do antibiotics work on prokaryotes (bacteria) but not viruses?

  1. Viruses constantly mutate

  2. Bacteria constantly mutate

  3. Bacteria lack a metabolism

  4. Viruses lack a metabolism
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Antibiotics target specific metabolic processes and structures unique to prokaryotic cells, such as cell wall synthesis or bacterial protein translation. Because viruses lack their own metabolism and instead rely entirely on the host cell's metabolic machinery, antibiotics have no target structures to act upon in a virus.

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